The Physical Education - Literature review Example

Physical education in an educational setup has been defined as the process of providing the knowledge and skills necessary for having a behavior including physical movement which ensures energy expenditure which is considerably above the normal physiological requirements of a routine day in the educational institution including the muscular and cardio-respiratory energy requirements (TODE,2007). The importance of physical education in all levels of education has been reiterated by a number of studies. CSBE (2005, p.6) has confirmed physical education as an integral part of the education curriculum for all levels of students. It has been proved that a student who gets involved in regularly participate in physical education hold the chance of becoming a more healthy adult who would have the motivation to remain healthy and physically active through out the life. The attitude of physical education students has been found to differ with relevance to a number of factors. Allport, G W. (1935, p.810) defined attitudes as, " a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related" .The variation of attitudes of students towards physical education has had undergone extensive research since the first half of the twentieth century (Krouscas, J A, 1999). Flanagan (1954, p.327-358) had evaluated the aspects which led to positive and negative attitudes of the college students towards physical education and had indicated teacher behavior, curriculum content, and class atmosphere as the three important factors which influenced both positive and negative attitudes. While evaluating the factors which promoted students to voluntarily involve in physical education, Earl and Stennett (1987,p.4-11) opined that liking the activity, liking sports, fitness benefits, enjoyment, and the acquisition of new skills as the reasons for students to get encouraged to take physical education. However they also listed a number of factors which limited the interest of students in physical education which included unimportance of physical education in curriculum, poor program, scheduling conflict, involvement in other physical activities and the uneasiness of getting sweaty and having to attend other classes throughout the day. King, M H (1994) strongly argued that the strongest factor that affected the students’ attitudes towards physical education was the perceived status of physical education. The scope of the age factor of the students affecting their attitude towards physical education has been identified by a number of studies. Studies conducted by King, M H. (1994) has analysed the attitudes of junior high and middle school students on the physical education curriculum at their school. The study indicated that sixth grade level students regardless of their gender had the strongest positive attitude towards physical education. However it was found that the level of positivism towards physical education decreased substantially with the increase in age. It was concluded by the study that the interest and positive towards physical education developed inversely with an increase in age. Treanor, Graber, Housner, and Wiegand (1998,p.43-55) also observed that all eighth grade students included in the population of their study were less likely to enroll in physical education than sixth grade students. This study also supported the inverse relationship of positive attitude and increase in age. Another study by Hicks, L L (2004) which studied the student attitude towards physical education in a class taught by Teacher of the Year has indicated inversed results as it was found that neither the Gender nor the age factor seemed to affect the attitudes of the students. However this result would have highly affected by the factor that the class was taught by Teacher of the Year. In a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International of Princeton for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (ORCIP, 2006) teens and adult students had similar positive attitude towards physical education as they believed that physical education must be made mandatory in schools. However while evaluating the percent of respondents whose attitude where positive, the adults were on the lead by ten percent. NASPE (1997) has confirmed that the interest in physical education declines with increase in age. King, M H (1994), on analysis of the questionnaires answered by 726 students of grades seven to nine from St. John’s, Newfoundland indicated that “the attitudes of younger female students were more positive then their male counterparts”. However the study further observed that this trend reversed as the students grew up. Several studies have indicated the relationship between the attitudes of students towards physical education and the geographic location of the students. Jiri Stelzer,  James M. Ernest,  Mark J. Fenster and George Langford has evaluated the difference in attitude of students in four countries including Austria, Czech Republic, England, and USA. The study revealed that the students showed decidedly positive attitude toward physical education on an overall perspective. However students from the Czech Republic had significantly higher attitude scores than students from other countries. (Stelzer, J. Ernest,J M.  Fenster, M J & Langford G,2004) The effect of gender on influencing the attitude of the students towards physical education has also been researched by a various studies. Alden, M (1932,p.97-107) found an interesting observation in his study to examine college student’s attitudes toward physical education, that an unfavorable attitude of college women existed in regard to required physical education programs. Bullock and Alden (1933,p.60-64) found that the general dislike of girl college students were due to the inefficiency of the teachers who taught them physical education in their school days. Stelzer, J. Ernest,J M.  Fenster, M J & Langford G,2004 (2004) revealed that males showed more favorable attitude towards physical education. However this study negated the possibility of an existence of combined relationship of gender and geographic factors to work in combination to affect the attitudes of students. Krouscas, J A (1999) concluded that boys at all studied groups of age were more interested to participate in physical education than girls. The results of the study by Treanor, Graber, Housner, and Wiegand (1998,p.43-55) also pointed towards similar trends. King, M H. (1994) also observed similar results in the study on ‘Student attitudes toward physical education at the intermediate level’ as well as the results indicated that the phenomenon of decline in interest in physical education with the increase in age was more apparent for girls than boys. Canan Koca, F. Hulya Asci and Giyasettin Demirhan (2005,p.12) has asserted that physical education would serve as an ideal tool to ensure gender equity in terms of opimising opportunities in education and study environments. In the observation of NASPE (1997) that the interest in physical education declines with increase in age, it is interesting to note that this phenomenon was more prevalent in females. “Although this attitudinal decline transpires in both genders, it is more severe in girls.” (Treanor, Graber, Housner, & Wiegand, 1998,p.43-55). The number of years of engagement in physical education also was found to have integral role in the influencing the attitude of the college entering students towards physical education. Brumbach and Cross (1965, p.10-16) observed a cofirmative relationship between the positive attitude of the students in joining the college physical education and the actual number of years they were associated in high school physical education. They made this observation while evaluating all the male lower division students who joined the University of Oregon in September 1960 on their attitude towards physical education. ALR (2007,p.3-5) indicated that the fear of affecting the academic performance of students influenced the attitude of the students and the management and resultantly limited the time of physical education or even eliminated physical education. However Shephard RJ, Volle M, Lavallee H, LaBarre R,Jequier JC, Rajic M (1984,p.58-63) has negated this possibility as the study provided proof for children performing well with their academic grades meanwhile actively involving in physical education as well. References Active Living Research, 2007 Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance, Active Living Research, 3, 3-5 Alden, M. A. (1932). The factors in the required physical education program that is least attractive to the college girl. Research Quarterly, 3 (3), 97-107. Allport, G W. 1935, ‘Attitudes’. In C. Murchison (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (798-884). Clark University Press: Worcester, MA. Brumbach, W B., & Cross, J A. 1965. ‘Attitudes toward physical education of male students entering the University of Oregon’. Research Quarterly, 36 (1), 10-16. Bullock, M., & Alden, F D. 1933. ‘Some of the factors determining the attitude of freshman women at the University of Oregon toward required physical education’. Research Quarterly, 4 (4), 60-64. Canan Koca, F. Hulya Asci, Giyasettin Demirhan, ‘Attitudes toward Physical Education and Class Preferences of Turkish Adolescents in Terms of School Gender Composition’ Adolescence, Vol. 40p.12. CSBE 2005, ‘Physical Education Model Content for California Public Schools;, California Department of Education, California. Earl, L. M., & Stennett, R. G. (1987). ‘Student attitudes toward physical and health education in secondary schools in Ontario’. Canadian Alliance of Health,Physical Education and Recreation Journal, 53 (4), 4-11. Flanagan, J C. 1954. ‘The critical incident technique’. Psychological Bulletin, 51 (4), 327-358. Hicks, L L. 2004, Attitudes toward physical education and physical activity of students enrolled in classes of Teachers of the Year, PhD Thesis, Purdue University, Indiana. Krouscas, J A, 1999, Middle School Students’ Attitudes Toward A Physical Education Program, PhD Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. King, M H. 1994, Student attitudes toward physical education at the intermediate level, Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. 1997. Shape of the nation report: A survey of state physical education requirements. Author: Reston, VA ORCIP, 2006 Public Attitudes Toward Physical Education, Opinion Research Corporation International of Princeton, National Association for Sport and Physical Education, NJ Viewed 04 December, 2008, http://www.aahperd.org/NASPE/pdf_files/whatsnew- survey.PDF Shephard R J, Volle M, Lavallee H, LaBarre R,Jequier JC, Rajic M. 1984, Required physical activity and academic grades: A controlled longitudinal study. In Children and Sport. (Eds). J Ilmarinen and L Valimaki (Eds.)Berlin: Springer- Verlag. 58-63. Stelzer, J. Ernest,J M.  Fenster, M J & Langford G,2004, ‘Attitudes toward physical education: a study of high school students from four countries—Austria, Czech Republic, England, and USA’, College Student Journal. . FindArticles.com. 04 December.2008.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_38/ai_n612456 2. Tennessee Department of Education, 2007, Physical Education/Activity: Definitions, Viewed 04 December, 2008, http://www.state.tn.us/education/schoolhealth/physed/definitions.shtml#pedefine Treanor, L., Graber, K., Housner, L., & Wiegand, R. 1998) ‘Middle school students’ perceptions of coeducational and same-sex physical education classes’. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 18 (1), 43-55. Read More